For the first time in Aston Martin’s rich 112-year history, the company’s iconic wings logo will sit beside the royal Coat of Arms of the British sovereign, having been awarded a Royal Warrant by Appointment to His Majesty The King.
While official confirmation of the new Royal Warrant came in May 2024, Aston Martin has only formally applied the prestigious Royal Arms to its branding, following the new Royal Coat of Arms of King Charles III released by the College of Arms.
Founded in 1484, the College of Arms creates and maintains official registers of coats of arms and pedigrees. The heralds who make up the College are members of the Royal Household and act under Crown authority.
The granting of a new Royal Warrant follows Aston Martin being honoured for innovation with the King’s Award for Enterprise in 2024. It continues Aston Martin Lagonda’s eight-decades long history with the Royal Family, dating back to 1954, when Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, took delivery of a three-litre Lagonda.
The following year, Queen Elizabeth II’s cousin, the Duke of Kent, acquired a DB2/4 from the Aston Martin team that had won the 1955 Monte Carlo rally.
It is the King’s DB6 Mk2 Volante, however, that has remained an icon of the Royal Family’s long association with the marque and Aston Martin’s hand-built British sports cars. King Charles has been a member of the Aston Martin Owners Club since 1973, with Aston Martin holding a Royal Warrant as a Motor Car Manufacturer and Repairer to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales since 1982. The marque now carries the arms of the sovereign for the first time.
In more recent times, the DB6 Mk2 Volante took centre stage at the wedding of Prince William and Princess Catherine in 2011, with the sight of the Royal Couple departing down The Mall in an Aston Martin.
In 2020, the Prince of Wales (now His Majesty King Charles III) officially opened Aston Martin’s new state-of-the-art DBX SUV manufacturing facility in St Athan, Wales. This move saw manufacturing begin of the first production car built in the country for more than 50 years.
In 2022, the same car provided King Charles and Queen Camilla a grand entrance to the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. More recently, in 2024, it was displayed at Sandringham during the Aston Martin Owners Club gathering, which saw more than 75 Aston Martin models grace the royal residence.
The spectacular Aston Martin DB4 (1958-1963) could attain maximum speeds of more than 140mph and reacj 100 in third gear.
Attend the 2025 Vancouver ABFM at VanDusen Garden on Saturday, May 17 to see vintage & modern Aston Martins, along with close to 500 British cars and motorcycles.